I just purchased the Osprey Radial 26 on Saturday and haven't had a chance to use it. I bought it on recommendations from this forum. As for the elastic straps, if you are talking about the ones holding the top of the straps, they are not there for strength. The strap is sewn elsewhere to do this task, the cords are not taking the full weight of this bag so I wouldn't worry about that. As gregf83 mentioned they have a great warranty if anything goes wrong.